Chapter 5: The Gathering Storm

The obsidian banner of the resurrected Daimonas. His safe havens had become training grounds, his small band of followers had swelled into a formidable army. The Ouranios Alliance could no longer turn away from the storm rising on the horizon.

Tension filled the air in the ornate chambers of the Ouranios Council. Representatives from the four sects Voreios, Notos, Anatol, and Dysi argued fiercely, each blaming the others for allowing the Daimonas remnants to regroup. The complacency that had gripped them during the years of peace had shattered, replaced by a growing sense of panic.

"We should have crushed them completely, roared General Theron of the Voreios sect, his face flushed with anger. "We should have left no survivors. Now, we face the consequences of our mercy."

Mercy? snorted Lady Seraphina of the Notos order, her tone dripping with disdain. "You call slaughtering their families mercy? It's our brutality that has fueled this rebellion."

The arguments continued, a cacophony of accusations and recriminations. They were a house divided, their unity fractured by internal rivalries and political maneuvering. This was the weakness Nyx had counted on.

The Daimonas were back, and they were not to be underestimated.

He stood before his assembled army, his face illuminated by the flickering torches that lined the training grounds. The air crackled with anticipation, the energy of a thousand souls burning with a shared purpose.

For five decades" Nyx said, his voice booming across the assembled troops, "we have lived in the dark, stalked and reviled. For 50 years we have held up the burden of our bereavement, and the ache of our grief. But no more."

A roar erupted from the crowd, a wave of raw emotion that shook the very ground they stood on.

Tonight," Nyx said, his tone rising above the clamor, "we fight back. Tonight we demonstrate to them that the Daimonas are not toppled. Tonight, we start our quest for redemption/recovery of the things that belong to us.

The army created a second boom, their weapons held aloft in the air. Nyx raised his own hand, silencing the crowd.

"Remember, he said, his voice now low and intense, "we fight for our families, for our homes, for our future. We fight for the memory of those we have lost. We fight for vengeance."

That night, under the cover of darkness, Nyx led his army towards the Ouranios outpost. The attack was swift and decisive. With the shadow manipulation techniques he learned from the grimoire, Nyx and his best disciples broke into the fortress disabling its defenses and sowing terror in its interior. The rest of the Daimonas army poured over, overwhelming the astonished defenders.

The fighting was terrible, yet the Daimonas battled with a ferocity the result of desperation and burning need for revenge. The Ouranios troops, unprepared and demoralized by the unexpected onslaught, were swept aside in an instant. By dawn, the outpost was in Daimonas hands.

The news of the outpost's destruction reached the Ouranios Alliance, causing a sensation of feeling stunned. They had finally realized the true extent of the threat they faced. The gossip had grown into a hurricane and was bearing right down on them.